Don't Stop Believin'
by Kels92
Summary: I LEFT him. He was in that hell-hole fer two years 'cause o' me. After that I promised myself I wouldn't ever leave 'im again. An' that's why he's currently got me pinned against a wall pointin' a gun to my head. Damn irony... BAM -Hiatus
1. Prologue

Don't Stop Believin'

**Prologue**

D'you ever get that feelin' in the back o' yer head? The feelin' that makes yer heart to heavy ta hold? Do ya know what that feelin's called?

Guilt.

Yup, good ol' guilt, peckin' away at the back o' my skull. AGAIN. Can't tell ya how many times I've felt like this. I know it all started when I accidentally pushed Jak into a Wumpbee's nest on his ninth birthday. Some present, huh?

Hehehehehe...ahem...

Anyway, the one, main thing that's been eatin' at me fer 'bout four years now 's when I left 'im.

I LEFT him.

I just stuck my tail in between my legs and bolted. And what happened to Jak?

They got 'im.

They snagged 'im and plopped him in ta Haven City's prison.

AND I LEFT HIM.

He was in that hell-hole fer two years 'cause o' me. It's my fault that he's got all that Dark Eco in 'im. After that I promised myself I wouldn't ever do that to 'im again. I would never leave 'im again.

An' that's why he's currently got me pinned against a wall pointin' a gun to my head, an' I ain't makin' any move to try an' leave.

Damn irony...

BAM


	2. Chapter 1: Old Habits

**Chapter One: Old Habits**

Bar _n._ long solid counter serving drinks

Bar-hopper _n. adj._ an individual who travels from bar to bar consuming drinks

Example: Daxter

"_Oh, and, Dax?"_

"_Yeah, buddy?"_

"_Don't go out, kay?"_

"_Mmkay." _

Ha! Like I was actually gonna sit on my ass and do nothin' while Jak made goo-goo eyes at Keira? As if!

Hello, ladies! The name's Dax. But you can call me…Orange Lightning! Yes, yes, I know. I'm gorgeous, aren't I? Yeah, I ain't doin' so bad fer an Ottsel. You can look, sweethearts, but ya can't touch, or my gal Tess'll come an' hurt ya a good one…

No, I'm serious. You're laughing? I'm not laughing. My Tess-baby may only be two feet tall, but, man! She can definitely open a can o' whoop-ass!...

Gods, I miss my Tess.

No bar feels right without my Tessy-poo behind the counter. And if a bar don't feel right, then I can't drink my booze!

Booze is good…

Let me explain; about a week ago, Jak got this notice about some meeting that had to do with the reading of Krew's will. Tattooed wonder got one too, and brought the hottie Governess with 'im. Jak brought Keira (of course). I'm surprised she didn't bring ol' log-nog with her…

So, that's why I've been roaming Kras City, lookin' fer a decent bar to stay at. An' not a single one has reached my expectations.

'Cept this one.

Uh, Bloody Hook, I think it's called. 'S got some pretty decent drinks here, but it ain't nothin' like home!...

Still…

"So there we were…wheel to wheel with the nastiest racing cars I've ever seen!"

I'm enjoying myself.

"Razor sharp chrome gleaming in the dark. Weapons bristling under rumbling hoods!"

"Oh, the Kras City welcoming committee," said a guy to my right. I sorta glared at 'im. Bastard interrupted me! He had orange hair, some funky blue flame tattoo on his right arm, and his ears were…cut off near the bottom…

Eek…ouch…

"Have a drink…" he paused, "Friend,"

That didn't sound too good.

"Yeah, well whoever they were they screwed around with the wrong people," I said, snatching the drink, making sure not to spill. "Jak an' I are world famous!" I threw my arms in the air…and spilled my drink.

Damn it.

I saw carrot-top role his eyes at me.

"And we're connected, too!" I shouted, getting in his face. I heard the guy to my left poor s'more booze in my mug. "We've been…" I paused to thank the guy. "Invited to Kras City for the reading of some will…" I smirked. "A RICH guy named Krew!"

"The big gang lord?!" said the guy who poured my drink…Edjie, was it?

Yeah," I scoffed. "I don't think you can get fatter than 'im!" I cleared my throat. Man I was parched! "Jak 'n I were Krew's muscle in Haven City, but ol' tub o' butter kicked the over-sized bucket!" I raised the cup to my furry lips. "Anyway, where was I?...Oh yeah!" I set the cup down without taking a drink. "Slowly the racers surrounded us. The smell of fear hung in the air," I leaned towards Edjie. "And the smell of somethin' else, too! I told Jak 'Lose the suckers'!" I pulled down my goggles and imitated Jak, my paws on an invisible steering wheel. "Jak suggests we hide from 'em and I say 'No way'! I hit the Red Eco weapons' trigger an' drop a mine. Then BAM!! One down, two more to go!"

"My, my," came a thick accented voice. I turned and saw this tall, pale guy with black hair that was sleeked back. He was wearing a long red jacket with the collar turned up all the way.

Whoa.

"Sounds like this city is terribly dangerous," The man lit a cigarette and took a long drag from it. Blowing out the smoke, he said, "Maybe we should get law enforcement to crack down." He laughed, and so did the other two guys.

Okay, that had me worried.

Grabbing my drink and pushing up my goggles, I said in a shaky voice, "Yeah, well, this place don't scare us!" I turned to Edjie after gaining my composure and yelled, "No nasty GANG is gonna get us ta turn tail an' run!"

"Sounds like they had you dead to rights," said the German. "How did you survive?" My ears perked. So this guy wanted to hear my story too.

Cool.

I smirked. "Well, I'll tell you one thing; Jak sure wasn't havin' any fun!" I picked up my drink, noticing that it was only half full (or was it half empty?). "Jak wanted us ta go back, but I was all, 'As if! We take these losers down an' out, baby!' Jak was barely able to keep himself together, but with my help we took out every single one!" I struck a pose, spilling some of my drink. "Until only one last, unlucky racer was left!" I jumped in the air, spilling even more of my drink.

"Really?" asked the smoker. I nodded. He tapped his ashes onto the floor while taking a few steps toward me. "You know, people in this city have a way of getting themselves in over their heads," He took a few more steps toward me. "Like at the bottom of the ocean,"

Oh, boy…this wasn't good.

"Hey, easy, guys," I said as the German flicked away his cigarette. I had a fleeting thought of looking to see if it landed on someone.

That'd be funnier than hell.

"Uh, heh, easy, buddies. M-my story's almost over!"

"Yes, it is!" He grinned, pulling out a really, REALLY sharp knife. Edjie and Shiv were walking towards me too, and they didn't look very friendly.

Did it just get REALLY bright in here?

"No, just wait a minute! It gets better, really!" At that's when I heard a roaring engine.

Right after Jak drove his car through the window/aquarium behind me.

"Dax, get in the car!" demanded my sidekick. I fumed and threw the remains of my drink on the floor.

"Jak, what the hell are you doing!?" I yelled, jumping off the counter and onto the floor, making sure I didn't step in the remains of my drink. "I was in the middle of a story and then you just had to come driving thro—"

"Get in the car, NOW!" I was about to protest once again when a knife was imbedded in the side of the counter, right next to my head. 'Live now argue later!' I thought as I leapt towards Jak and his car. "What the hell are you waiting for, a green light?!" I shouted as I jumped onto his shoulder. "Move it, Dark boy!" Jak floored it as some of the gang members started shooting at us. We drove threw the window again (poor fish…) and landed harshly onto the road.

Seeing as how nobody seemed to have been following us and we were well enough away from the bar, Jak decided it was time for a little Q and A.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" he shouted. 'That's an easy question…' I thought. "We've been getting death threats, and you choose to wander through this city ALONE!?"

Sometimes, I liked it better when he couldn't talk…

"Hey, I'm a big boy, Jak! I can take care of myself!" I yelled back. I hate it when he does this. He acts more like a parent sometimes than a best friend. Doesn't he remember that I'm 19 too?

"You're two feet tall—"

"Two feet and ten inches," I corrected. He glared at me. "It doesn't matter, Dax! You had no way of defending yourself at all!" I looked away. 'Ten inches sure as hell matters to ME,' I thought. "I had it under control!" I all but screamed into his ear.

"Going around and getting into drunken bar fights is not 'under control'!"

"I wasn't drunk, and you damn well know I wasn't picking fights with anybody!"

"You know what I mean, Dax!" Jak shouted over the roaring engine and the rushing wind. I met his gaze and glared just as harshly. He looked back at the road, swerving to avoid pedestrians and the occasional building. I stopped glaring at him when he didn't turn back. I looked over at one of the many parts of the car that wasn't dangerous for me to perch myself on. Jak knew that if I was particularly miffed I wouldn't sit on his shoulder, sometimes just for a few hours, or sometimes for a few days. One of us would eventually crack and beg for forgiveness, and we'd always accept. 'Cause that's what best friends do; they forgive each other.

As I positioned my self to jump onto the bar, I could barley make it out when Jak said, "Something could've happened to you…"

Damn it.

Cheater…

I sighed and wrapped my small body over the back of Jak's neck, a sort of "I'm sorry/I forgive you" move. I could literally FEEL his muscles relax from their previous tense condition.

"You are one tightly wound up Eco Hero, my fine friend." I said matter-of-factly. Jak chuckled. "Whatever,"

"It's true! We gotta do somethin' here—just the two of us!"

"Dax, ninety percent of the time it's just the two of us," he said. I could HEAR him smirk. I frowned (not that he had eyes on the back of his head or nothin'—I checked). "I mean we gotta do something fun! None of this business-y crap or Hero stuff; we'd just be Jak and Daxter! Er, Daxter and Jak!" I heard Jak laugh out loud, a real laugh, and only I can make him laugh like that.

"Alright Dax, we'll have it your way. One of these days while we're here we'll go somewhere and just hang out," he said. I grinned.

"Promise?"

"Promise,"

I guess today wasn't so bad after all.


	3. Chapter 2: Not So Much

I don't own the Jak and Daxter series; they belong to Naughty Dog only.

Woo-hoo! Disclaimer! Yeah, I noticed that I didn't have one in the Prologue and in Chapter One. I'm still relatively new at this, so I haven't figured out all the nooks and crannies yet. Thanks so much for all the reviews, guys. Made me smile each and every time. :') Sorry it took so long to update; I'm a procrastinator. :P

**Chapter 2: Not So Much**

Paladin (pal-a-din) _n_. One who is an eminent hero

Hero (he-ro) _n_. A person of outstanding valor

Example: Jak

X x X x X x X x X x X x X x X x

I don't want to be here.

I really, REALLY don't want to be here.

When I first got the invitation I threw it away and never gave it a second thought. Why should I go to the reading of a will for the guy that set me up and got me banished?

Unfortunately, what I didn't count on was Keira getting an invitation as well. She had already talked Torn and Ashelin into going, saying it would be "polite" and the "right thing to do".

I thought she didn't like the guy? Didn't she chew my ass out for working for him?

I didn't want to get into another petty argument with her, so I agreed to go, much to Daxter's dismay. He wasn't too happy about going, and neither was I, but if it kept things in order…

"Dax put the glass down." We haven't been here for five minutes and he's already getting into stuff.

"What? I wasn't doing nothin'! Chill out, Jak", he said, waving me off. I rolled my eyes. Even when he was human he couldn't sit still for very long.

"Damn it! Who called us here anyway?!" Dax whined.

"Krew's daughter, Rayn," said Keira. I turned to her and gave her a disbelieving look.

"Krew had a _daughter_?"

"Krew…had _sex_?! Eww!" Daxter shouted, throwing the glass down onto the table. He grabbed his ears and covered his eyes. "Oh, that is so GROSS! Who'd want to be with _that_?!"

"Enough!" Torn shouted, raising a fist the threaten him. I could tell he wasn't feeling to well, what with the mental image and all.

"The poor kid," Dax said. "I bet she was picked last in ALL the dodge ball games!"

"Thank you all for coming." I turned and saw a young woman walking towards us. She had blue-grey hair up in a fancy bun and looked like an hour-glass. Who the hell was—?

"I'm Rayn."

Oh.

"Looks like some of you didn't make it," she said, setting down a bottle of wine and a clip-board sized projector of some sort.

"Yeah, well it was a little last minute, Princess," Ashelin growled.

She wasn't too happy about being here either.

Rayn either didn't hear her or just ignored her. "I'm glad at least some of you made it here," she said. "Thank you all, regardless." As she begun explaining her father's "last wishes", Daxter padded his way over to me, a scowl firmly planted on his fuzzy face.

"How long until we can get the hell outa here?" he whispered, climbing onto my shoulder. I shrugged, and I could see Keira frowning at me from the corner of my eye.

"…this special drink just for the occasion," Rayn continued. "To toast his death." She poured red wine into six different glasses, and allowed us each to take one. We all held up our drinks as she said, "Here's to old friends, and to father's untimely death." Dax swigged his down immediately. I was a little cautious. There was no way it was gonna be this easy…

Rayne swallowed her drink, and watched me as I finished mine.

"So, without further delay, his message to us," she said, turning on the projector. I sat down. Here goes nothing…

"_Hell nearly friends, and mostly enemies,_" I shivered. I hated the sound of his voice then and I hate it even more now. "_If you're listening to this, then I must be dead. Oh, well…_" Leave it to Krew to be so luck-luster about his own death. "_As all of you must know, I loved racing almost as much as I loved weapons. But, alas! I couldn't achieve my dream of winning the Kras City Grand Championship!_" Daxter, after having curled himself around my shoulders once more, folded his ears flat against his head, and I could feel his little chest vibrate as he growled. He usually didn't do those kinds of things; growling and purring and such, but when he did he was either very relaxed (or drunk) or he was very pissed.

My guess was he was very pissed.

"_But even in death I will fuel the greatest racing team, and win the biggest event on the planet!_"

"I have a bad feeling about this…" I whispered, more to my self than anyone else.

"_You are the best of the best, and you will race for _me!"

"Never!"

"No way!"

"Forget it!"

Apparently, Torn, Dax, and I had the same idea.

"_If all went as planned, then you just gave a touching toast in my honor,_" the hologram said smugly. My eyes widened and I turned to glare at Rayn, who, in turn, sunk down in her seat.

"_Sorry to say, but I put poison in that 'special beverage'! Quite unsporting of my, really…_"

"Father!" Rayn shouted, leaping to her seat. I felt Dax slip off my shoulders and heard him landing on the floor with a dull "thump". I went to grab him, but Keira grasped my other had, her head on the table.

"Oh, no…" I heard her whisper.

"_This is most-likely the part where Rayn gets upset. Sorry, Sweetheart. It's a slow poison,_" he smirked, "_or you'd already be dead!_" I glared at the holographic man, hoping to the Gods that he was burning in a boiling pot of oil in Hell…

What? I'm not allowed to think dark thoughts?

"_My associate will provide you all with an antidote at the end of the race, but only if you win! If you don't, well…_" he chuckled darkly. "_I don't need to tell you what will happen._" I shook my head in disbelief. This was NOT how I wanted to spend my time here.

Ashelin practically leaped from her seat when the hologram blipped off, and pinned Rayn down in her seat while pointing a gun to her head, shouting "What the hell did you do to us?!" I stood up quickly, getting ready to help Torn hold Ashelin back if she got too out of control.

And she can get REALLY out of control.

"Please!" Rayn begged. "I-I didn't know; I drank it too! Father never did play favorites…"

"Oh, yeah? Well, your father's crazy!" Torn shouted, sounding almost as angry as Ashelin.

"We're all crazy for coming here!" Keira screeched, standing next to me. I looked to my right, past Keira, and Saw Dax slowly sitting up. Hopefully he didn't hurt himself too bad…

"_Well, it's been one minute,_" I almost jumped out of my skin when the hologram popped up and started talking again. "_So, I'm guessing you're all arguing about how to get yourselves out of this mess,_" I felt Dax slowly climb up my leg and onto my shoulders, wrapping himself around my neck again. "_My advice is trust no one, win the race, and save yourselves!_" The hologram turned off once again, apparently the end of Krew's "will".

"Jak," Daxter mumbled, "Next time you're invited to another party, remind me NOT to go!"

"We can do this, guys!" I said. "We can all race, and we _can_ win!"

"My father bought us the best racing equipment money could buy," Rayn said, standing up and dusting herself off. "And each of you has a racing car waiting. We're in this together, so let's get to it!"

X x X x X x X x X x X x X x X x

Jak and Daxter were lazing about in their hotel room, Daxter curled in a ball under Jak's jacket while Jak himself was taking a shower. As the water rained down on him, the green-blond hero's mind was swirling at 100 miles a minute with questions. Was Krew telling the truth? Were they really poisoned? What _would_ happen if they didn't win? What if this "associate" of his doesn't have the antidote? And then his main concern;

What about Daxter?

The dosage for the poison (he assumed) was measured for a full grown human, not a two-foot-ten Ottsel. Would Dax be able to make it to the last race? Jak didn't know what he'd do if he lost him; Dax. Daxter. Orange Lighting. His first friend. His _best_ friend. The one who saved his life.

Sighing, Jak turned off the water, it having turned cold long ago, dried off, and got dressed. He was _way_ too tired to deal with this crap.

Walking out of the bathroom, Jak couldn't help but chuckle. Daxter had pretty much tangled himself in the hero's jacket, still curled in a ball. He regretted having to wake him, but he was in the middle of the twin-sized bed which didn't leave much room for Jak.

"Hey, Dax," Jak whispered, softly patting the top of his head. "C'mon, buddy, you gotta move over a bit." Daxter stretched, extending his claws, before opening his eyes.

"Mmm? Wazzit?" he yawned, rubbing his eyes childishly. Jake carefully crawled over the drowsy Ottsel, and slid him out of the jacket and up to his chest.

"I said scoot over so I don't squish you." Daxter hummed in acknowledgment. Jak smiled and laid a large hand over a tiny body.

Daxter was back to sleep in an instant, purring contently as Jak rubbed his back.

'Where would I be without you, Dax?' Jak thought. He visibly blanched when a dark cackle rang through his subconscious.

'You'd be dead.'

And it was right.

X x X x X x X x X x X x X x X x

Duhn-dunh-DUHN!! Yes! Chapter two: Done! Chapter three: Haven't even started it yet. And for those of you with no imagination, the "dark cackle"-ing person was Dark Jak. Reviews are loved! Be nice with constructive criticism; my soul is fragile (it says so on the box).


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